The Madness Within
by CheerUpSleepyJean
Summary: On the night of a full moon, Remus's secret is revealed to his friends. Are the bonds between the four strong enough to withstand the shock, or is this the end of the Marauders?
1. Chapter 1

**I've read many a Marauder fanfic in my day, and I've noticed that most of the fics in which Remus is revealed to be a werewolf follow the same pattern: Sirius, James, and Peter notice that Remus is always gone on a full moon, connect the dots, and then assure him they're still his friends. Not a bad storyline by any means, but I wanted to take a different approach. I hope you enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: None of these marvelous fellas are mine.  
**

Chapter 1  
"Boy, you should have seen that Slytherin's face we he found out a second year had hexed him!"  
Late, in the Gryffendor common room, three boys sat by the cracklings fireplace, sides splitting from sharing their adventures.  
"Wow! I can't believe that you used a spell from the sixth years' textbook, James!"  
Peter, a short blond boy, bounced up and down on the couch next to James. On James's other side, a dark-haired stuck his nose in the air, and huffed, "What do you expect, Peter? Jamie and I are at the top of the class in DADA."  
James rolled his eyes behind his thick glasses, but a grin refused to stay hidden.  
"Shut up, Siri!"  
Sirius smirked, ducking the pillow James chucked at him.  
"You know what, fellas? This calls for a celebration!"  
Peter clapped his hands.  
"Ooh, ooh! Let's sneak down to the kitchens and get something to eat!"  
"Peter, don't tell me you're still hungry?!"  
The chubby boy looked sheepish. James grinned again.  
"Not a bad idea, actually. We can grab some chocolate for Remus while we're there."  
The smiles of the three boys flickered as they thought of their friend; Remus had left earlier evening for his grandfather's funeral.  
"Poor Remus. He's looked sick all day."  
Sirius nodded.  
"He must be really upset."  
Their moment of silence stretched on. Then, James spoke up.  
"All the more reason for us to grab a few chocolate frogs, then! Come on, gents! I'll fetch the cloak!"  
The trio ducked under the oversized cloak James had brought out, and disappeared from sight as quickly as a lightening flash.

"Peter, get off of my foot!"  
"Sorry."  
"Shut up you two!"  
"Sorry!"  
"Don't be sorry, be quiet!"  
"Sor-"  
James clapped his hand over Peter's mouth. He whispered, "Guys! Look over there!"  
Illuminated by the last rays of sunlight was the figure of a skinny boy with sandy brown hair dashing down the corridors.  
"Is that...?"  
"Remus. Why is he still here?"  
"He's sneaking out. Without us!"  
Peter struggled out of James's grasp.  
"We should catch up to him. He might get caught!"  
The other boys stared at him. Peter shrugged.  
"I mean, he's supposed to have left Hogwarts already! He could get in trouble!"  
"Peter..." Sirius whispered thoughtfully, "...that's two things you've said right today." He smirked. "You're on a roll!"  
Under the cloak, Peter's chubby face beamed.  
"C'mon! Let's go!"

**(A/N: virtual brofist to anyone who catches the Spaceballs reference!)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
Remus was panting for air, but kept dashing across the grounds. As he was heading outside earlier, he had run into a prefect, and would still be taking a lecture about the importance of following curfew had Professor McGonagall not passed by and sent Remus on his way. However, the incident had cost him some time.  
"I'll never make it..." Remus mumbled under his breath. With a glance up at the already dark sky, he put on a burst of speed.

"Remus..." Sirius wheezed. Peter was out of breath as well, and even James, the most athletic of the group, felt winded by their sprinting.  
"He can't...hear us...from here. Sheesh! He's faster... than I thought!  
The trio slowed as they approached a large tree with branches that swayed from a force other than wind.  
Sirius gasped. "Is...is Remus CRAZY? Why is he...running toward...the Whomping Willow?"  
"Look!"  
Remus had picked up a long branch, and was probing at the base of the willow. Suddenly, the violently jerking branches froze, and Remus rushed up to the trunk, disappearing among the gnarled roots.  
Peter, Sirius, and James stopped short next to the twitching tree.  
"What the...?  
James grabbed the other boys by the arms and pulled them along.  
"C'mon!"  
They quickly ran after Remus. As the trio approached the trunk, the branches began to swish again. Ducking the whip-like sticks, they spotted a gap between the roots of the willow and rushed inside.  
"Oof! Peter, James—get OFF!"  
The boys rolled off of each other, and looked up. They had tumbled into a dark tunnel.  
"Remus?"  
"He must be farther down the path."  
James, Sirius, and Peter exchanged glances. Then, in silent agreement, they set off into the impenetrable blackness that filled the passage.

Remus sat alone in the darkness of the Shrieking Shack. His prickling skin, throbbing head, and aching bones let him know that the full moon was on the rise.  
"It won't be long now" he thought.  
A loud "creeeak" broke in on his musings. Remus cocked his head to the side. With his heightened senses, he detected someone—or several someones—right outside the door of the shack.  
With a scratchy voice, Remus called out.  
"Wh—who's there?"  
"Remus!"  
Upon hearing their friend, James, Sirius, and Peter rushed inside the shabby room to find Remus, dressed in rags, sitting in the middle of the scuffed-up floor.  
"Remus, what are you doing here?"  
The skinny boy on the floor jerked backwards, startled, causing a rattling sound; only then did the others notice the thick, shining chains binding his limbs.  
"Guys? Wha—you shouldn't be here!"  
Shock and terror were evident in his voice. James, Peter, and Sirius also noted that Remus was breathing hard. Suddenly, he let out a sharp gasp. The trio saw their friends face contort unpleasantly.  
"What's going on, Remus?"  
"Are you ok?"  
Remus let out a cry that could shatter glass. When the others moved forward to help him, he waved them away.  
"Get out of here! Aaah!"  
The trio heard a sickening "crack!" Remus twisted into a fetal position, the back of his head facing his friends.  
"C'mon, Remus! We need to get you to the hospital wing!"  
Another horrible "CRACK," rang out, like the sound of ice breaking, yet Remus still pushed the other boys away. He twisted again, lying on his stomach, and clutched at his head.  
"R-run! AAAH!"  
"Remus, what...?"  
Suddenly, Remus sprang up into a kneeling position, and let out another agonized scream.  
A scream that morphed into a howl.  
"AAAAROOOOOOOO!"  
James, Sirius, and Peter looked on as thick fur sprouted from his every pore, and his gentle grey eyes changed to a coldly gleaming silver.  
The transformation was complete; Remus was gone, replaced by a snarling wolf.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
"Remus!"  
"Sirius, GET BACK!"  
James ran forward and grabbed his friend by the shoulders, out of reach of the wolf's gaping jaws. The wolf gave a loud roar as James herded Peter and Sirius out the door. The trio rushed down the tunnel and out of the suffocating darkness of the passage.  
"Remus is a—"  
"Duck!"  
All three boys immediately hit the ground, barely missing the thrashing branches of the Whomping Willow. They scrambled across the muddy ground to get out of reach of the tree.  
For a moment, Sirius, Peter, and James sat motionless in the dirt, breathing heavily.  
"He's a monster." Peter whispered. "Remus is a werewolf." He heard a faint cry from the direction of Hogsmead and shuddered.  
The three sat, bloody thoughts racing through their heads and silencing their mouths. James thought back to his childhood; he remembered pictures in his bedtime stories of werewolves—teeth stained red, paws covered in that thick, red liquid, cruel eyes shining.  
Sirius ran a hand through his long, dark hair. "How could Dumbledore let this happen? Remus goes to Hogwarts. He's in our classes. He sleeps in our dorm, for crying out loud! Doesn't that crackpot of a headmaster know a werewolf when he sees one, or does he just not care students getting eaten alive?!"  
"I thought Remus was our friend," Peter whimpered.  
"He's not!" Sirius snapped. He recalled his parents telling him about dangerous half-breeds ever since he was little. "Werewolves are bloodthirsty monsters, and they're cunning. A wolf will infiltrate places where humans live, and when they're gained everybody's trust, it strikes! I wonder how many full moons we had left before that...that CREATURE gobbled us up in our beds!"  
Peter whined again. "What can we do?"  
"One thing's for sure: we can't trust the teachers. Dumbledore's not stupid. He let Remus into Hogwarts, knowing BLOODY WELL he's a werewolf!" Sirius scowled at the full moon, shining above them like the polished blade of a guillotine.  
"We'll have to take care of this ourselves."  
James slowly nodded in agreement.  
"I called him my friend." James thought. "And all this time, he's been lying to us." In the boy's head, the image of a monstrous werewolf blended together with a mental image of Remus's scarred face.  
"We'll confront him at dawn. Peter, go to the castle, and bring back all the silver you can find. We'll drive him out of Hogwarts. We'll make him regret the day he walked into the castle."

**(A/N: lol "Remus is a duck!" I'm such a horrible person!)**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:  
The early morning sun streamed through cracks in the wall of the Shrieking Shack, shining gently on Remus's face. He carefully opened one eye...  
And quickly shut it again with a groan; the light burned strongly as a dragon's breath.  
Eyes still tightly closed, he attempted to raise his head off the ground, but slumped against the floor again. Remus felt something warm and wet dripping down his face, as well as on his skinny body and over his arms and legs. His nostrils were filled with the scent of blood. The werewolf sighed, and curled up tightly on the deeply-scratched floor.  
"I must have gone berserk!" He thought. "What happened last night? What made me hurt myself so badly?"  
Memories of the night before hit Remus like a slap: the horror on his friends faces, the shouting, the fear he sensed when they realized what he really was.  
Remus curled up tighter on the floor, holding back tears.  
"I'm in so much trouble," he thought despairingly. "No one is supposed to know. And now they'll hate me!"  
"What if they tell everybody? I'll have to leave Hogwarts!"  
Remus carefully wiped his eyes with the frayed sleeve of the raggedy, oversized clothing he always wore for his transformations. He just stared at the torn, bloodstained fabric for a moment. Then, he snarled.  
"Stupid bloody monster!"  
A creak in the passageway—too quiet for any human to hear from that distance, but perfectly clear to Remus—altered him to the presence of someone in the hall.  
"Madam Pomfrey?" He muttered weakly.  
The door flew open with a "BANG," and in burst Peter, Sirius, and James.  
Each boy was clutching a silver knife, and all of their wands were pointed at Remus.  
"This is it, werewolf. We're done with your charades and your lies." Sirius said coldly. Peter, standing closely behind the two larger boys managed to whimper "Get out of our school!"  
James's mouth was tightly closed; he didn't trust himself not to flip out at his friend—former friend—if he opened it, and he didn't want the werewolf to see that his trick had worked. He spat, "Get up yourself, or we'll make you."  
Slowly, the boy on the floor uncurled his body, and pushed himself up into a sitting position.  
And James dropped his knife.  
The front of Remus's shirt was stained dark red with blood; some old, some fresh. The deep marks of claws covered his face, his arms, his legs—everything.  
What shocked James the most, though, were the tears that shone in Remus's eyes.  
The angry and fearful expressions melted off of Peter and Sirius's faces as they watched Remus struggle unsteadily to his feet, hands pressed to a nasty gash on his chest.  
"I'm sorry." Remus whispered. "I'll leave. You never have to be near me again."  
A tear rolled down his cheek.  
"I'm so sorry."  
James couldn't take it anymore. He rushed to his friend's side, grabbed him under the armpits, and carefully lowered the skinnier boy to the floor once more. Remus, crouching in a sitting position, shied away from James. He couldn't meet his eyes.  
"Remus..."  
A clatter arose; Sirius and Peter had dropped their knives as well, and kneeled in front of their friend.  
Sirius whispered in shock: "You...you weren't pretending so that you could eat us, were you? You were never pretending..."  
Remus shook his head.  
"I'm so stupid. I shouldn't have come to this school at all. I'm a freak, I don't deserve friends."  
It was Peter who first struck up the courage to put a comforting hand on Remus's arm.  
James and Sirius followed Peter's example, each wrapping an arm around the boy's bony shoulders.  
"Shut up, you git."  
"We're the ones who should be sorry. We were stupid, we thought you wanted to...well, hurt us."  
Remus scowled slightly.  
"How do you know that I'm not dangerous? I'm a bloody werewolf! A monster!"  
Sirius's eyebrows raised.  
"No offense, mate, but you don't exactly look up to doing us any harm."  
James nodded in agreement.  
"And the Remus we know wouldn't hurt a fly."  
"I'm a were-"  
"Oh, so what if you turn into a bloodthirsty beast every month?! You're clearly trying to stay under control, and it isn't your fault you have a...furry little problem!"  
"You're Remus." Peter chimed in. "That's what matters to us—not the werewolf. You."  
Remus glanced up at the others in disbelief.  
"Really...?"  
They smiled.  
"Really."  
"Of course."  
"Heck yes!"  
"Now, come on!" James stood up, and pulled Remus to his feet. "We need to get you to the hospital wing."  
"Blimey, you're a mess!"  
Remus glanced at his friends sheepishly.  
"I guess I smelled you lot nearby. Made me lose it."  
Peter blanched.  
"We made you do this to yourself?"  
Remus nodded, the grimaced slightly as Sirius and James began walking him down the passage. "I'm calm near animals—well, relatively calm—but the scent of humans drives me mad."  
"Well, we'll have to do something about that," muttered James thoughtfully.  
When Remus shot a sharp glance at him, the other boy just grinned.  
After a moment's pause, Remus smiled back, and the four friends continued walking away from the nightmarish shack together.


End file.
